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Notorious Japanese Director Sion Sono Unveils Next Project

'Guilty of Romance' is an erotically charged film starring a little-known unnamed actress.

The next feature film project from notorious Japanese director Sion Sono, whose Cold Fish and Love Exposure have won wide international critical acclaim, was announced Sunday at the American Film Market.

Guilty of Romance, an erotically charged film starring a little-known actress whose name has yet to be revealed by producer Nikkatsu, was unveiled by Yuko Shiomaki of year-and-half-old Tokyo-based sales company pictures dept.

"Because there are hard sex scenes in it, the film will be very sensitive in Japan," Shiomaki said of the film, now in production with a budget of about $1.5 million.

The Guilty story begins on a night that a woman's body, cut in half and otherwise violated and attached to a mannequin, is found in an abandoned building.

Cold Fish was an official selection this year at film festivals in Venice, Toronto and Pusan, and won the best screenplay award in the Fantastic Features section at Fantastic Fest 2010. It will release in Japan in January.

Four-hour-long Love Exposure, didn't do much theatrical business but did "really well in DVD," Shiomaki said.

Previously, Sono's The Room won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance in 1992, and he gained international notoriety for his 2001 picture Suicide Club. In 2009, Love Exposure won the Agnes B Award at the 9th Tokyo Filmex, and was shown at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival.